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Mycotoxins, a natural food contaminant, are secondary metabolites of fungi. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and ochratoxin A (OTA) are two major mycotoxins found in various food commodities. These mycotoxins are hepatotoxic, nephrotoxic, cytotoxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic, thus they are a public health concern and their monitoring in food commodities is necessary. There are several conventional techniques available for mycotoxin detection, such as HPLC, LCMS, and ELISA. However, extensive nature and huge cost allowances make it challenging to deploy these techniques for monitoring of mycotoxins in the large sample size. Therefore, a robust, responsive and high-throughput technique is required. Here, we aimed to develop a multiplexed Luminex suspension assay based on multi analyte profiling (xMAP) technology for the simultaneous detection of AFB1 and OTA in the black tea, which is found to be contaminated with these mycotoxins during the cultivation or processing steps. Limit of detection for AFB1 and OTA, was 0.06 ng/ml and 0.49 ng/ml, respectively without any cross-reactivity with other mycotoxins and this assay is suitable for simultaneous detection of AFB1 and OTA in the same sample. Collectively, based on the results, we suggest that the developed Luminex suspension assay is sensitive, accurate, rapid and suitable for high-throughput screening of multiple mycotoxins. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13197-023-05848-3.

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Prodigiosin is a promising food color due to its antibacterial, antimalarial, antimycotic characteristics, immunomodulating, and antitumor activities. Novel prodigiosin producing strain isolated from sugarcane field soil of Banaras Hindu University, India, characterized as Serratia marcescens bhu prodig by 16 sRNA. The effect of carbon, nitrogen source, and physical parameters (pH and temperature) on pigment yield was studied. The highest amount of pigment produced, which was 800.95 ± 0.05 mg/L, was detected when sorbitol and peptone were used as nitrogen and carbon source with pH 7 at 30 °C. The optimized condition scale-up in a bioreactor with a working capacity of 3.0 L, gave maximum pigment yield of 825 ± 0.05 mg/L with µ (Maximum specific growth rate), Yp/x, which represents the product yield coefficient, and Yp/s, which signifies the specific product yield coefficient and productivity of 0.3/h, 0.62, 0.80, and 0.02 g/L/h, respectively, after 72 h of cultivation in submerged fermentation (SMF). The isolated pigment was characterized as prodigiosin by the analysis of spectral data and GC-MS. The mass spectrophotometry investigation characterized pigment as 4-methoxy-5(5 methyl-4-pentyl-2H-pyrrol-2-ylidene)- 2,2-bipyrrole ring structure. The GC-MS chromatogram showed m/z of 323, representing prodigiosin. The prodigiosin yield and productivity obtained in the current finding were higher than in previous reports.

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The recent pandemic, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), has put the whole world on alert with the threat of the virus that targets the human respiratory system. The disease has affected more than 633.6 million people globally and caused 6.5 million deaths since November 18, 2022. About 12.94 billion people are vaccinated as of November 18, 2022. Due to varied climatic conditions, SARS-CoV-2 has shown rapid mutation in recent years. Because of the lack of appropriate therapeutic drugs, inadequate diagnostic mechanisms, life-supporting medical facilities, and lack of awareness, the spread of SARS-CoV-2 has become severe. Thus, the most efficient strategy to control this disease is to follow preventive measures. However, treating SARS-CoV-2 cases in Wuhan using traditional Chinese herbs has set an example to show how traditional health can contribute to treating this novel virus. Medicinal herbs are known for their antimicrobial, antibacterial, antiviral, immunomodulatory, immunoadjuvant, and anti-inflammatory properties. These medicinal herbs are used during cooking and consumed regularly worldwide. In this view, medicinal herbs gained evident attention. These herbs can serve as a potential and economical remedy for combating the lethal effects of COVID-19. The present review highlights the phytochemicals and their mechanisms of action in preventing SARS-CoV-2. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42535-023-00601-9.

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As a promising solar absorber material, antimony selenide (Sb2Se3) has gained popularity. However, a lack of knowledge regarding material and device physics has slowed the rapid growth of Sb2Se3-based devices. This study compares the experimental and computational analysis of the photovoltaic performance of Sb2Se3-/CdS-based solar cells. We construct a specific device that may be produced in any lab using the thermal evaporation technique. Experimentally, efficiency is improved from 0.96% to 1.36% by varying the absorber's thickness. Experimental information on Sb2Se3, such as the band gap and thickness, is used in the simulation to check the performance of the device after the optimization of various other parameters, including the series and shunt resistance, and a theoretical maximum efficiency of 4.42% is achieved. Further, the device's efficiency is improved to 11.27% by optimizing the various parameters of the active layer. It thus is demonstrated that the band gap and thickness of active layers strongly affect the overall performance of a photovoltaic device.

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Developing low-cost and safe energy storage devices is the primary goal of every country to make a carbon-neutral atmosphere by ∼2050. Batteries and supercapacitors are the backbones of future sustainable energy sources for electrical vehicles (EVs), smart electronic devices, electricity supply to off-grid regions, etc. Hence, these battery-dependent devices are substantially gaining the market. Although lithium-ion batteries account for powering most of these devices, lithium availability and price pose a severe problem since lithium resources are not abundant in nature. Thus, alternative research on sodium-ion or other multi-charged cations (Al3+/Mg2+/Ca2+/K+) based energy storage devices is needed to substitute lithium-ion batteries. India and many other countries have sodium in abundance. Sodium also has potential in designing and developing efficient charge storage devices. This review article discusses the status of sodium-ion battery research activities, cost, market analysis, and future strategies of the Indian government or private bodies, industries, and research institutes of India.

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Mycotoxins represent an assorted range of secondary fungal metabolites that extensively occur in numerous food and feed ingredients at any stage during pre- and post-harvest conditions. Zearalenone (ZEN), a mycotoxin categorized as a xenoestrogen poses structural similarity with natural estrogens that enables its binding to the estrogen receptors leading to hormonal misbalance and numerous reproductive diseases. ZEN is mainly found in crops belonging to temperate regions, primarily in maize and other cereal crops that form an important part of various food and feed. Because of the significant adverse effects of ZEN on both human and animal, there is an alarming need for effective detection, mitigation, and management strategies to assure food and feed safety and security. The present review tends to provide an updated overview of the different sources, occurrence and biosynthetic mechanisms of ZEN in various food and feed. It also provides insight to its harmful effects on human health and agriculture along with its effective detection, management, and control strategies.

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Here we report a novel nitridation technique for transforming niobium into hexagonal Nb2N which appears to be superconducting below 1K. The nitridation is achieved by high temperature annealing of Nb films grown on Si3N4/Si (100) substrate under high vacuum. The structural characterization directs the formation of a majority Nb2N phase while the morphology shows granular nature of the films. The temperature dependent resistance measurements reveal a wide metal-to-superconductor transition featuring two distinct transition regions. The region close to the normal state varies strongly with the film thickness, whereas, the second region in the vicinity of the superconducting state remains almost unaltered but exhibiting resistive tailing. The current-voltage characteristics also display wide transition embedded with intermediate resistive states originated by phase slip lines. The transition width in current and the number of resistive steps depend on film thickness and they both increase with decrease in thickness. The broadening in transition width is explained by progressive establishment of superconductivity through proximity coupled superconducting nano-grains while finite size effects and quantum fluctuation may lead to the resistive tailing. Finally, by comparing with Nb control samples, we emphasize that Nb2N offers unconventional superconductivity with promises in the field of phase slip based device applications.

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With less than 3200 wild tigers in 2010, the heads of 13 tiger-range countries committed to doubling the global population of wild tigers by 2022. This goal represents the highest level of ambition and commitment required to turn the tide for tigers in the wild. Yet, ensuring efficient and targeted implementation of conservation actions alongside systematic monitoring of progress towards this goal requires that we set site-specific recovery targets and timelines that are ecologically realistic. In this study, we assess the recovery potential of 18 sites identified under WWF's Tigers Alive Initiative. We delineated recovery systems comprising a source, recovery site, and support region, which need to be managed synergistically to meet these targets. By using the best available data on tiger and prey numbers, and adapting existing species recovery frameworks, we show that these sites, which currently support 165 (118-277) tigers, have the potential to harbour 585 (454-739) individuals. This would constitute a 15% increase in the global population and represent over a three-fold increase within these specific sites, on an average. However, it may not be realistic to achieve this target by 2022, since tiger recovery in 15 of these 18 sites is contingent on the initial recovery of prey populations, which is a slow process. We conclude that while sustained conservation efforts can yield significant recoveries, it is critical that we commit our resources to achieving the biologically realistic targets for these sites even if the timelines are extended.

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The source populations of tigers are mostly confined to protected areas, which are now becoming isolated. A landscape scale conservation strategy should strive to facilitate dispersal and survival of dispersing tigers by managing habitat corridors that enable tigers to traverse the matrix with minimal conflict. We present evidence for tiger dispersal along transboundary protected areas complexes in the Terai Arc Landscape, a priority tiger landscape in Nepal and India, by comparing camera trap data, and through population models applied to the long term camera trap data sets. The former showed that 11 individual tigers used the corridors that connected the transboundary protected areas. The estimated population growth rates using the minimum observed population size in two protected areas in Nepal, Bardia National Park and Suklaphanta National Park showed that the increases were higher than expected from growth rates due to in situ reproduction alone. These lines of evidence suggests that tigers are recolonizing Nepal's protected areas from India, after a period of population decline, and that the tiger populations in the transboundary protected areas complexes may be maintained as meta-population. Our results demonstrate the importance of adopting a landscape-scale approach to tiger conservation, especially to improve population recovery and long term population persistence.

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Ultrasound- guided percutaneous allograft renal biopsy is commonly done to evaluate graft dysfunction. Complications of renal biopsy are usually minor, and major complications occur only in less than 1% cases. We report a case of allograft renal biopsy which caused a subcapsular hematoma, Page kidney and deterioration of graft function. This was diagnosed by computed tomography (CT) scan, and early surgical intervention led to complete recovery.

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AIM: With advancement in minimal access surgery two laparoscopic procedures can be combined together shortening the total hospital stay, decreasing morbidity and overall reduced cost. Combining two laparoscopic procedures in a single session has been reported in general surgery. Very few articles are available in literature with regard to combined urological laparoscopic surgeries. This article retrospectively analyses the outcomes of multiple laparoscopic procedures performed in a single stage at our centre. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients undergoing simultaneous procedures from May 2003 to Jan 2009 were included in the study. Patients were categorised into three groups according to the primary urological organ involved, for better comparison with the control group. Diseases involving the adrenals gland were grouped in (group 1), kidney (group 2) and renal collecting system/ureter (group 3). All patients had one urological procedure for either of the above-mentioned organs combined with another surgical procedure. Similarly three control groups were chosen according to the primary urological organ involved (group 1c- unilateral laparoscopic adrenalectomy, group 2c- unilateral laparoscopic radical nephrectomy and group 3c- unilateral laparoscopic ureterolithotomy) for comparative study. The operative details, hospital stay and complications were analysed. RESULTS: Thirty-two patients underwent 64 laparoscopic procedures under single anaesthesia. The most common procedure in this series was laparoscopic adrenalectomy (n=34) followed by laparoscopic nephrectomy (n=13). Group 1 patients had a prolonged operative time ( P=0.012) and hospital stay ( P=0.025) when compared with group 1c. However, blood loss was comparable in both the groups. Patients in groups 2 and 3 had comparable operative times, blood loss and recovery period with respect to their controls. Intraoperatively, the end tidal carbon dioxide levels were within permissible limits. All procedures were completed using the laparoscopic approach, without any conversion. CONCLUSIONS: Simultaneous laparoscopic procedures can be done for urological diseases in selected patients with the advantages of single anaesthesia and hospital admission without increasing the morbidity.